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Free Agent Follies: The 2013 Wide Receivers

We all get carried away with what happens in free agency every season. Right now fans of the Dolphins, Jets, Colts, Bills, Raiders, Eagles and numerous other teams believe that they have made the moves necessary to get to a championship. It’s a guarantee that some of those teams will likely end up disappointed when the games are actually played and we need not look any further than the multi year wide receiver contracts entered into back in 2013.

2013 was supposed to be the year of the receiver. Dwayne Bowe, Wes Welker, Mike Wallace, and Greg Jennings were supposed to help transform passing games. Percy Harvin was looking for a new contract and considered a dynamic playmaker. Victor Cruz was a restricted free agent and there were a number of tier two players that were going to add to the mix.

Here are the current results of the can’t miss group of players:

Name

Team

Annual Salary

Earned

G

Rec

Yards

TD

Result

Percy Harvin

Seahawks

$12,849,000

$25,500,000

14

52

500

2

Traded 2014/Cut 2015

Mike Wallace

Dolphins

$12,000,000

$27,100,000

32

140

1792

15

Traded 2014

Dwayne Bowe

Chiefs

$11,200,000

$24,235,294

30

117

1427

5

Cut 2015

Greg Jennings

Vikings

$9,000,000

$18,000,000

31

127

1546

10

Cut 2015

Victor Cruz

Giants

$8,600,000

$15,654,000

20

96

1335

5

On Team

Brian Hartline

Dolphins

$6,155,000

$12,525,000

32

115

1490

6

Cut 2015

Wes Welker

Broncos

$6,000,000

$11,647,059

27

122

1242

12

Free Agent

Danny Amendola

Patriots

$5,700,000

$11,875,000

28

81

833

3

Pay Cut 2015

Brandon Gibson

Dolphins

$3,260,000

$6,520,000

21

59

621

4

Cut 2015

Donnie Avery

Chiefs

$2,850,000

$5,150,000

22

55

772

2

Cut 2015

For almost all of these teams this was a complete waste of funds. On a performance basis this is what the team’s paid for the various player’s

Name

$/Rec

$/Yd

Percy Harvin

$490,385

$51,000

Mike Wallace

$193,571

$15,123

Dwayne Bowe

$207,139

$16,983

Greg Jennings

$141,732

$11,643

Victor Cruz

$163,063

$11,726

Brian Hartline

$108,913

$8,406

Wes Welker

$95,468

$9,378

Danny Amendola

$146,605

$14,256

Brandon Gibson

$110,508

$10,499

Donnie Avery

$93,636

$6,671

Only Cruz remains on his original contract with his original team and that may change as injuries and the emergence of Odell Beckham has made him expendable. Amendola is the only other player to remain with his team and he had to accept a pay cut to stay in New England. Wallace was just traded to Minnesota but is currently on his original deal. Welker was only given a two year contract and is currently a free agent.

Harvin was given up on by two teams and his ROI was likely at the bottom of the NFL. Miami and Kansas City whiffed multiple times and are now in the process of reworking their entire receiving corps. The Chiefs haven’t been that scared off by their failures, signing Jeremy Maclin for $11 million a year.

So what group in 2015 will be those 2013 wide receivers? Maybe it will be the cornerbacks. Maybe the defensive tackles. Maybe it will just be the receivers for a second time. But whatever group it is will likely incure the wrath of a number of fanbases and leave a few general mangers on the unemployment line.